Cerulean Perils
by JDP
Summary: There's trouble at the Cerulean City gym when May is in town for a visit.


Foreword

bCerulean Perils/b

A girl walked through the streets of Cerulean City, fresh off a victory from a pokemon contest that took place elsewhere in the city. Wearing her usual red collared shirt, white and black shorts, black gloves, and a red bandana, May looked at her newest contest ribbon. It was a tough battle she fought to get it. But now she only needed one more ribbon to enter the Grand Festival!

She placed it back in her container, and put the container into her fanny pack. Then a thought crossed her mind. Didn't she have a friend in this city? A friend of Ash's? She was the gym leader here... She pulled out a map of the city from her fanny pack, and located the gym. She looked around her, trying to figure out where she was. When she knew where she was, she headed in the direction of the gym.

She hadn't seen her in a long time. She'd only met her a few times in the past, so she didn't really know her that well. Perhaps now would be a good time to get better acquainted with her. If only she could remember her name... It's been so long.

The gym was rather conspicious, with the giant dewgong on the front of the gym, so she found it rather easily. She walked into the gym, and saw that it was empty.

"Hello?" she asked as she walked in. "Anyone here?' When there was no response, she headed further into the gym, onto the battlefield. She called out again, waiting for an answer.

There was no answer from a human, but in the pool, there were several pokemon who came to the surface, including a couple Goldeen, Magikarp, Seaking, a Dewgong, and a Gyarados, and there was a Psyduck that wasn't in the water.

"Hello there!" May said when she saw them looking at her. She walked over and kneeled next to the edge of the pool, looking at the pokemon. "Do you know where your trainer is?"

The pokemon responded in their various voices, which confused May a bit. She wasn't sure if they knew where she was or not. Now if she could only figure out what their trainer's name was... It had something to do with water, she knew that much, and it started with an M...

"Can I help you?" a human voice said from behind her. May stood up, startled, and turned to see a girl, probably no more than 12 or 13 years of age. She had orange hair which was put up in a ponytail on the side of her head, and she wore a buttoned yellow short sleeved shirt that stopped at the middriff, and beneath that was a red shirt, along with tight yellow shorts. She looked at May curiously, and then said, "May? Is that you?"

May nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I came here to see you, Misty," she said, finally remembering her name. "It's been a while."

"It sure has," Misty said, smiling. "Come on in." She motioned for May to follow with her hand, heading into a room where there was a table for them to sit. Misty offered May something to eat or drink, but she said she wasn't hungry. They both sat down at opposite sides of the table. Misty sighed softly, and then said, "So, how are your pokemon contests going?"

"Great! I just won my fourth contest ribbon a couple hours ago." She pulled out her container and opened it, showing Misty her ribbons.

"Congratulations!" Misty said, looking at the ribbons she had. "When's the Grand Festival?"

May put the container away and said, "Not for a while now. And I still need to get another ribbon to get in."

"Well good luck with that," Misty said. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to be a coordinator..." She seemed to be daydreaming a bit when she said that.

"It's a lot of fun," May replied. "And hard work. Your moves have to be both beautiful and effective in battles for maximum performance. You should join me sometime. I think you'd make a good coordinator."

"Thanks," Misty said. There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them. Misty broke it by asking, "So... how's Ash doing?"

"I haven't seen him since he finished the Battle Frontier. I think he went to the Sinnoh region."

"He did?" Misty was suprised. "I didn't know that."

May nodded. "I hear he's doing pretty good there. Just won his first badge."

"I'm not surprised," Misty said with a chuckle. "He's a good trainer." Misty sighed. She missed Ash. If only she wasn't stuck here at the gym, then she could go along with him.

"So, how's the gym doing?" May asked, interrupted Misty's thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, it's really slow lately. Rarely see any trainers coming here for a battle."

"That's a shame..."

"But we do have water ballet shows that my sisters host. One of them is going to play next week."

"Really? I've heard about those shows, but I've never actually seen them. Are you in them?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Misty said with a grin. "I'm almost always in them, and I get dressed in this mermaid outfit. I hate doing it, but it's what keeps the gym running."

Upon hearing the mention of a mermaid outfit, May got interested. "A mermaid outfit? That's interesting... Can I see it?"

"All right. I've got to practice now anyways." Misty got up and walked back into the gym. "C'mon." May followed, and they both walked past the pool with the pokemon in it. After a few minutes of walking up the stairs, they arrived at a dressing room. Misty turned to May and said, "Wait here. I'm going to change." Then she went inside while May waited outside the door.

May looked around, and saw the diving board nearby. Curious, she walked over, and looked over the edge. She took a step back, shocked by the sheer height she was at. That was a big dive! You had to be crazy to make such a dive!

She heard the door open behind her, and she turned around. Walking out of the door was, to her surprise, a mermaid! With long flowing hair, a pink shell bra, and a blue tail fin, it looked like a real mermaid. But she saw her face and knew that it was Misty, although to her, it hardly looked like it.

"Surprised?" Misty asked with a grin. "This is what I wear for every show."

May chuckled. "Amazing what costumes can do to a person. So you said you were going to practice?"

Misty nodded and walked over to the diving board, to May's surprise.

"You're actually going to jump down there?" Her eyes were wide with shock.

Misty chuckled and looked back at May. "Of course. It's part of the show." She winked at her, and then turned her attention back to the pool. She took a deep breath, and then jumped, diving into the water below. May watched in astonishment as Misty landed in the water, unfazed by landing into the water. She was swimming around, just like a real mermaid would. She watched in awe. It was like seeing a real mermaid swim! All the pokemon in the pool were swimming around her, their movements sychronized. Obviously, they've done this before.

Watching Misty swim made May want to join her. She had her bathing suit with her. She might as well join her. She turned, and went back into the dressing room to change.

A few moments later, she came out, wearing her red bikini. She walked up to the diving board, looking down to see if Misty was still there. She was, and obviously she was still practicing. She wasn't just going to dive in. She headed back down the stairs down to the pool. She watched as Misty swam, as graceful as a ballerina, but more like a fish, as she was under water.

No wonder Ash liked her. When she was with Ash, he often talked about Misty. Now she could see why. She was nice and really pretty. It seemed that Misty liked Ash as well. She was thinking pretty hard after she asked about Ash earlier.

Misty came up to the surface of the water, and looked over at May, who was in her bikini. "Why'd you change?" she asked.

"I want to come into the water too! You look like you're having a lot of fun."

Misty smiled. "Then come on in." She took a breath, and then disappeared back under the water. May ran and then plunged into the water. The cold was shocking, but she could deal with it. Opening her eyes, she saw all the pokemon swimming around Misty, and they started to swim around her as well. She laughed, and then started swimming with Misty and the pokemon.

Meanwhile, a middle aged man wearing jeans and a black shirt approached the gym. He studied it carefully. This place was supposed to be have a plethora of water pokemon. All of which are highly valuable. They'd be worth a lot for anyone who managed to obtain them.

Which was what the man was intending to do. He walked into the gym quietly, and looked around. It appeared to be empty. He grinned. Perfect. All the easier to steal their pokemon. He started to look around for their pokemon. They were probably in the pool, but he wanted to be certain that no one was around first.

He looked into the gym and became disappointed. There were two girls swimming around in the water. He growled softly. The rest of the place was empty except for those two girls. He'll have to get rid of them somehow...

May came to the surface for a breath. She was surprised how long Misty could stay underwater. Well, she was a water pokemon trainer, and had been doing this for a long time now. She was probably used to staying underwater for long periods of time.

As she floated at the surface of the water, she noticed a Psyduck still onshore, watching them with his blank eyes. Why wouldn't it come in? She waved to it to come in, but he just stared at her.

Misty surfaced next to May, and smiled. "Can't hold your breath for long, huh?"

"What's with that Psyduck?" May asked, pointing at the duck pokemon. "Why won't he come swimming?"

"Oh, Psyduck..." Misty sighed. "He doesn't know how to swim."

"A water pokemon that doesn't know how to swim!!" May exclaimed, taken back by that fact.

Misty nodded, and looked away. "It's embarassing, I know..." She then looked back at Psyduck. "He's practically useless for anything."

Even though he heard what Misty said, Psyduck still stared blankly at her. Misty sighed, and then went back underwater. May looked back at Psyduck, shrugged, and was about to follow Misty. But then she noticed someone coming towards the pool. It appeared to be a man.

"Hello? Who's there?" she asked, swimming towards the edge of the pool.

"I'm here for a gym battle," the man said, coming up to the edge of the pool. "Are you the gym leader?"

May shook her head. "No, she's underwater, swimming." She looked the man over. "You're pretty old to be coming here for a gym battle. Most trainers I know are about my age... You look like you could be a gym leader, not a trainer."

"I never really got into pokemon training until recently," the man replied. "This will by my fourth gym battle. Would you like to see my pokemon?" But before May could answer, he had already released his pokemon, a Chinchou.

"Oh, a Chinchou!" May said. "I've never seen one of those before. Are they a water type pokemon?"

The man nodded. "They're also part electric, so I figure he's my best choice for this gym battle."

"A water and electric pokemon?" May asked, never hearing of such a pokemon before.

"I'll show you. Chinchou, use spark!" he ordered the pokemon.

"Chin..." the pokemon said, sticking his antenna into the water, which started to glow. "Chou!" The electricity shocked all the water in the pool, including the pokemon and the girls in it.

May had no time to react when the electricity shocked her. She screamed in pain from the electricity, desperately trying to pull herself out of the water, but she couldn't. The pain was too much. However, the man reached down and grabbed her, pulling her out of the water, lying her down on the ground. She didn't move. She just panted heavily.

Misty was taken completely by surprise. The water suddenly sparked with electricity, and she was shocked with large amounts of electricity. She shouted in pain underwater, bubbles escaping from her mouth, and tried to swim to the surface. Her body felt numb, and she had trouble moving. But she made it to the surface, barely. She took a breath, and tried to swim to the edge. But her body was still in pain, even though the electricity had stopped. Even so, she slowly made her way to the edge of the pool, and dragged her chest out of the pool. Her legs were still in the water. She didn't have the strength to pull the rest of her body out of there. She must have been paralyzed by the shock.

She laid there, breathing heavily. She looked up, and saw a man coming towards her. He grabbed her arms, pulled her out of the water, and carried her over to the stands, where May was sitting. He placed her next to May, who was also paralyzed.

"I'm sorry to do this ladies, but your gym has some very vaulable pokemon," the man said to them. He grabbed some rope that was sitting on the ground next to them, and started to tie them up. He folded Misty's arms behind her back so that they were parallel to each other, and then tied them together. He also tied some rope around her shoulders so that it went above and below her breasts. He then went down to her ankles and tied them together. He then went and did the same to May.

All the while, the two of them were helpless to do much of anything than just struggle a little bit and glare at the man as he tied them up.

"Now to make sure you can't shout for anyone..." The man grabbed some pieces of cloth he had next to where the rope had been, and placed them over their mouths, gagging them. They mumbled weakly as he did so, making a half-hearted attempt to turn their heads away. But they were still paralyzed and weak from that shock the Chinchou gave them.

The man stood up, satisfied that these two could not get away. He had a bag full of pokeballs sitting on the ground, which he picked up. "Thanks for the pokemon. Don't worry. I'll take good care of them." Misty shouted something, but it was incomprehensible and barely audible beneath her gag.

The man took some of the pokeballs which were empty, and turned towards the pool. All the pokemon that were in the pool had been knocked out by the electricity. He pointed the pokeballs, and returned them to their pokeballs. He then put the pokeballs into the bag, and turned to leave, but then he saw Psyduck standing in front of him, just staring at him.

He growled. "It seems I've forgotten one." He searched for a pokeball that didn't have a pokemon in it, and pointed it back at Psyduck. But he seemed to have vanished. "Where'd he go?" he said, looking around for him.

Psyduck ran towards Misty and May, stopping a few feet in front of them. The two of them mumbled something to him, but he just stared and said, "Psy?" Then he reached down to start untying them.

"Hey! You stupid duck! Get back in your pokeball!"

Psyduck paused and turned around to see the man yelling at him. He cocked his head, looking at the man, and then stared at him again. But it wasn't his usual blank stare, but rather, an angry stare. His eyes glowed a blue, and then so did the man, who shouted in surprise as he started to fly into the air. The bag of pokeballs glowed too, as well as Misty and May. All four of them were hovering into the air, and all three humans were wide eyed with shock.

"Put me down!!" the man shouted, kicking his feet as if it would help him get down.

"Psy...duck!!" With that cry, all four items went flying. The man flew up into the stands, breaking a couple of them, and he was knocked unconscious. The bag of pokeballs landed on the ground, spilling out all the pokeballs. Misty and May landed into the pool with a splash.

Psyduck's eyes stopped glowing, and they returned to normal.

Normally, they would have been able to swim to the edge of the pool, but since they were tied up, both of the girls were in trouble. Unable to kick or swim with their arms, they started to sink rapidly, and would soon drown if they couldn't get out. They shouted to Psyduck, their muffled voices gurgling as their heads started to go underwater.

Psyduck heard them, and saw them drowning. For once in his life, he was afraid of what was happening around him, and he panicked, running straight towards the pool. But he ran too fast, slipped, and slided right into the water. Unable to swim, he treaded water, shouting frantically, trying to stay afloat.

Misty and May were now sinking fast. They were already a foot below the surface. Misty was able to keep up a little bit higher than May because she had the mermaid outfit on, which worked much like a fish's fin would in swimming, but still, she also relied on her arms to keep her afloat, along with the fact that she was still paralyzed, she couldn't keep above water. She looked down at May just below her, who was shouting something, bubbles floating upwards into Misty's face. Neither of them would last much longer without air. And then she saw Psyduck drowning as well. They were probably doomed now.

They both tried to struggle, trying to get free of their binds. But they were losing air fast. May was the first to stop moving, her eyes slowly closing from the lack of oxygen, and she sank towards the bottom. Misty's eyes watered a bit as she saw May lose consciousness, and then she started to slip away from reality as well, everything going dark. Although as her eyes closed, she saw a bright light... and then there was darkness, then nothing.

Then the light came back. Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw that she was out of the water, sitting on the floor of the gym. She also saw May sitting next to her, who was also starting to wake up.

What had happened? Didn't they drown? Who had saved them?

The answer came from her left. "Golduck." Turning, she saw a Golduck standing in front of her. Her eyes widened. Was..was this Psyduck? Did Psyduck evolve to save them?! Perhaps he wasn't so useless after all.

She said something, but it was muffled. That's when she realized that she still was still bound and gagged. May said something as well, but it was also muffled. They looked at each other and then back at the newly evolved Golduck.

Golduck stared blankly at them, just like Psyduck did, although he now had the eyes of a Golduck. But he cocked his head, just like Psyduck did, and did nothing.

Misty shouted at him, telling him to untie them, although it was muffled, but Golduck didn't respond. She kicked her tail, slapping him in the face. Obviously the paralysis was wearing off. But slapping Golduck in the face didn't do anything.

"Golduck," he just said, and then turned and started to walk away. Both of the girls shouted, wiggling and trying to get out of the binds, but Golduck just ignored them and walked to the edge of the pool. He glanced back at them, smiled smugly, and then jumped back into the water.

Misty and May were stuck in their binds, sitting at the edge of the pool while Golduck swam in the water, enjoying his newfound ability, ignoring the girls muffled shouts.


End file.
